That can be true here also. Best to read a lot of posts in any forum you visit/read so that you can learn who is knowledgeable, reliable and accurate.

Jean, I completely agree, though most of the advice given here is either agreed or disagreed upon by the consensus. Many of the comments in the Facebook group will only compound problems. Not trying to be completely negative - there are knowledgeable people there as well :)

We have a great group here!

Kelley What did you see that scared you? Could you be specific and give some examples. I would hate to follow somebody's advice and find out I am making a problem with my trees bigger. I have learned over the years that not all advice on the internet is correct. If you see something incorrect, then discuss it. After reading 5 posts and giving up, it is not fair to the person who created the page IMO.

The Facebook groups I'm part of are wonderful! What kind of advice was given?

Mostly information on growing citrus from seed - the usual: “it will take a few seasons” to “3-5 years” (which may happen on rare occasions in the right environment). One lady cut her 2yo seed grown lemon in half, still hoping it would flower in 3-5 years. Also, poor draining soils were recommended, pruning when you shouldn’t, etc. The main problem is the people who believe the first comment and act without doing proper research, and then spread this information.

Agreed, Laura! Much less drama, too.

I have gained a lot of knowledge from the kind people in this forum and given the growers advice strictly based on my own experiences and observations.

Kelley I am always looking at different types of soils to use. Which soils do you consider poor draining? I go to various resources and each location recommends something different. One source recommends azalea mix, pathway bark, coco coir and perlite. It works for him. I used to get Sunset magazine and it recommended African violet mix. I never tried it because the bags are too small and not cost effective. I find it interesting to see what works for some and not for others.

Denise, I have killed trees with sand mixes (poor watering techniques, likely), regular potting soils, I even used a topsoil mix one time and found it contained too much clay (welcome to Georgia). However, I have seen some of the above types work great for a few others. Thinking I should not be the judge of whether a soil drains well or not :).

Have you ever tried the azalea mix? I have seen it recommended before, but never tried it myself.

Kelley, No I have not used the azalea mix. I think I looked for it last year at my local Lowes and they did not have it. I am going to look again and try following Martine Brucheau's citrus formula of 60 % azalea mix, 35% pathway bark and 5% coco coir. I don't care for the 511 mix because it drys out too quickly for my comfort level.

Kelly, I also belong to that same forum if I know what one you mean. There is one there that gives great advice and I have yet to comment there. He invited me and he also frequents here..

But here is something I'll bet you never thought of...You can take all the valuable things you learn from here and help those seeking for answers there...You would be of a great benefit to a forum like that.

This one is fantastic and the hole concept of fast draining mixes had gained popularity here since it has saved most of our trees...We might not all use the same exact mix, many here using the gritty and 5.1.1 gained from the container forums..We took what we learned from there and have taught many the concepts here through the years and how to adjust the mixes they use accordingly..

And how kind of you to thanks us all out of the blue. That just does not happen that often. It feels good to be appreciated))